Kargil Vijay Diwas 2022: This year's Vijay Diwas marks 23 years of India's victory in the Kargil war. The nation celebrates July 26 every year on this occasion. It is a popular belief that the conflict was carried out by General Pervez Musharraf, who was at that time, the Pakistan Army Chief. Pakistan, however, could not succeed in its plans, and the mighty Indian Army, recaptured all the positions along the border on 26 July.
Apart from the history and legacy of Indo-Pak war, there's an important point that we miss. Who did our mighty neighbour China stand with?
Several questions arose over how China backed Pakistan in this war. Several experts said that although China maintained a neutral stand in the battle, it helped Pakistan through the backdoor. Ever since its inception, China stressed on the fact that the country maintains an independent foreign policy and does not act or interface in the affairs of any other nation. But given the situation and friendship it had built with Pakistan, if was difficult to believe that China did not stand by one of its long-standing allies.
Let's look at three instances, which leave us with the impression that 'Dragon' allegedly helped China.
1. China increased patrolling activities in eastern Ladakh Demchok. On June 6, 1999, around 70 PLA patrol parties reached opposite Demchok. This was when India started Kargil operations.
2. In the last week of June 1999, Beijing increased action in Ladakh’s Trig Heights, where the Chinese started building a natural surface track in a move aimed at staking claim over disputed territory.
3. China started making a track at Pangong Tso on a war footing. This construction continued till the southern bank of Pangong Lake to Spanggur (Ladakh). At the same time, after the construction, the Chinese were able to coordinate both boat and foot patrol in the area.
The above three activities by China during the Kargil war give leave ample information about the fact that even though the nation spoke about being neutral, it was busy strengthening its hold in Ladakh amid India's ongoing war with Pakistan. Apart from this, somewhere along with Pakistan, China was also planning to take major action against India. However, China could not succeed in doing so.
Also Read: Kargil Vijay Diwas: How the 'Golden arrows' squadron brought victory home
